The Russian coast guard has seized three Japanese fishing boats near the disputed islands off Hokkaido, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Twenty-eight crew members aboard the 19-ton vessels, all out of Nemuro, Hokkaido, were taken into custody, ministry officials said.
The Russian Federal Border Service seized the Eitoku Maru No. 38 with a crew of nine near the Habomai islets Tuesday. The Fumi Maru No. 83 with 10 crew members and the Sanko Maru No. 58 with nine crew members were taken near Kunashiri Island on Wednesday.
The Habomais and Kunashiri are among the four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan.
The boats were fishing for cod under a bilateral fishing accord, but the Russian coast guard apparently determined through inspections they were exceeding their quota.
Russia plans to question crew members from the Eitoku Maru in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island and those from the two other boats in Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Kunashiri.